The Audi A3 is now in its third generation and just keeps getting better. The A3 has won numerous awards including the prestigious World Car of the Year title in 2014. There are few other premium family hatchbacks to touch its combination of premium build quality, style and performance.
The Line Up
The A3 is one of Audi’s key models and is a very smart and practical car. Four body styles are available: a three door hatchback, four door saloon, five door Sportback and a cabriolet. There’s a choice of three petrol and two diesel engines, all turbocharged four cylinder units and tuned to offer a variety of power outputs. Features such as Cylinder on Demand technology on the 1.4 litre petrol model ensure the A3 remains efficient, although the diesels are generally the smart choice for fuel economy.
The standard gearbox is a six speed manual unit, with a dual clutch S-tonic automatic unit available as an option. Hot S3 and RS3 formats are also available – and will blow your socks off. Front wheel drive is the standard format but you can specify the A3 with Audi’s legendary Quattro four wheel drive system on higher spec models. The A3 is also available as a plug-in hybrid. The A3 e-tron is an impressive example of its kind, using a 1.4 litre TFSI engine assisted by an electric motor, offering superb fuel economy. It feels very much like a conventional car to drive and is very easy to live with.
What Do You Get
The A3’s cabin gets a 5.8 inch infotainment screen as standard, which is unusual in this market segment, and is spacious and comfortable. The A3 scored the maximum five stars in Euro NCAP crash safety testing and includes the sort of safety equipment usually found in bigger cars. There’s a long options list to choose from, including some very clever technology.
Overall it’s a very impressive machine, with prices starting at just under £20,000. For normal would-be buyers this may be prohibitive, necessitating the services of firms like www.rightdrive.co.uk and others offering car credit in Portsmouth and elsewhere.
If you’ve enjoyed VW Group build quality and practicality with the likes of the Volkswagen Golf or the Skoda Fabia, the Audi A3 is the obvious choice for a step up in style and quality.